SINGAPORE (Feb 28): Straco Corporation saw a marginal 0.4% y-o-y dip in 4Q18 earnings to $6.04 million from $6.07 million a year ago, as lower revenue for the quarter was offset by lower expenses compared to the corresponding period.
For the FY18 ended Dec 2018, the group reported 12.4% lower earnings of $41.8 million compared to $47.7 million for FY17.
Revenue for the latest quarter fell 9.2% to $22.3 million from $24.6 million a year ago due to lower contributions from Shanghai Ocean Aquarium (SOA), Underwater World Xiamen (UWX), and the Singapore Flyer as all three attractions registered lower visitor numbers.
As such, overall visitation to all attractions fell 3.8% to 946,000 million visitors compared to a year ago.
Total expenses fell 13% to $14.4 million from $16.55 million in 4Q17.
Notably, repair & maintenance expenses decreased significantly, halving to $0.7 million from $1.4 million a year ago due to a reclassification adjustment to capitalise the cost of new shafts for the Giant Observation Wheel, which amounted to $0.5 million incurred in the previous quarter at the Singapore Flyer.
Depreciation & amortisation expense fell 29.2% on-year to $2.3 million from $3.3 million previously, as certain assets at Singapore Flyer and UWX were fully depreciated.
In the absence of a one-off amount for additional property tax in the previous year, property and other taxes fell 33.9% to $0.4 million from $0.6 million in 4Q17.
As at end-Dec 2018, cash and cash equivalents stood at $201.7 million, up from $190.4 million a year ago.
The board is proposing a special dividend of 1 cent per share, on top of a first and final dividend of 2.5 cents.
Commenting on the latest full-year set of results, Wu Hsioh Kwang, executive chairman of Straco, says the overall performance of the group was impacted mainly due to two months of ride suspension at Singapore Flyer during 1Q.
Nonetheless, he expects the outlook for China domestic tourism to remain positive.
“The aquarium businesses also registered marginal decrease in revenue and net profit; while Underwater World Xiamen 2 registered marginal growth in revenue and net profit, our Shanghai Ocean Aquarium was affected by unfavourable weather this year and tightened traffic control in October/ November during the Import Expo held in Shanghai,” says Wu.
Shares in Straco closed flat at 76 cents on Thursday.
